By Your Side
by Zetara
Summary: She-Ra hadn't made an appearance lately and while the Hoard thinks it's their chance to muster a surprise attack, it turns out that Catra might be the person the Bright Moon princess has been expecting to show up, and hopefully the one to help a very ill Adora recover. But then again, why would Catra help her former best friend? I don't own the rights of the franchise. Enjoy!


**It's been so long! So I recently watched the new She-Ra and the dynamic of these two characters got me hooked! Anyways, as per usual, I think of this as something more platonic than anything else, but it's always up to interpretation. So enjoy!**

* * *

The hoard had a plan, Catra's plan, no less. For some reason She-Ra hadn't make an appearance in the last few days, and the rumors were that Queen Angella was away in a diplomatic mission, so the apparently unprotected kingdom of Bright Moon was theirs for taking. Catra knew for sure she was going to get inside that castle the little sparkly princess was so proud about and that she was going to face Adora in there.

For a change, she was absolutely right, that was going to happen, but as fate would have it, not the way she would have wanted.

As soon as they were on the threshold that divided the two mortal enemies, Catra got out of her tank standing triumphantly, ready to lead the soldiers into battle, but as soon as she raised her arm up to command, a winged horse flew right into her, knocking the air out of her while dragging the Hoard Captain alongside, directly to the castle's balcony.

The battle might have gone on without her, but she never got to know that, because the colorful horse dropped her at Glimmer's feet.

"This has to be the one, right?" the apparently _talking_ horse said "she fits the description"

"That's her" Glimmer confirmed while picking Catra from the ground in a threatening way, but due to the height differences, it didn't seem imposing at all "What did you do to her?!" she demanded.

"What?" Catra asked aback.

"What kind of curse did you use?" Glimmer tip toed to be at the same eye level.

"Look, glitter princess, I don't know what you are talking about" she pushed her away getting her claws out "But this looks like a fine invitation to finish you" she pulled her arm back ready to strike when an arrow flew across, stopping her actions.

"Next time I won't miss" Bow said from the end of the hall before looking at Glimmer in a worrisome manner "She's getting worse"

Glimmer's face went pale "But we've tried everything-" she cut herself out, not willing to cry in front of the enemy "Just name your price" Glimmer said to Catra "We'll give you gold, magic potions, something of power, just make it stop"

"I still don't know what you are talking about" Catra grunted "And even if I did, why would I help you? Don't you have little perfect Adora to fix everything?"

"That's the thing" Bow said weakly "She's the one in trouble"

Catra's eyes snapped open, but she made no other motion "Where is she?"

The two heroes exchanged looks for a moment before agreeing to show her, not before making sure she was no threat, taking away her weapons.

Glimmer pushed the door open only to unveil the sight of Adora laying in bed restlessly, twisting and turning while mumbling incoherent things, always at the verge of consciousness and the realm of dreams.

Catra took in the image as she silently walked in. She stood in front of the bed and stretched her hand towards the blonde girl's face.

"If you dare hurt her!-" Glimmer interjected.

"At ease, your majesty" she scoffed while retracting her claws just to lay her fingers over Adora's forehead to confirm her suspicions. "She has a fever" she mumbled "this isn't a curse, we didn't do this, she's sick"

"A fever?" Bow repeated in disbelief "but she didn't show any symptoms!"

"How long has she been like this?" Catra asked.

"Since last night, she's been asleep for almost a day now"

"Well, did she ask for warm soup?" Catra asked getting annoyed.

"Yes"

"Did she tell you to go without her somewhere so she could stay behind in her room?" she questioned losing her temper.

"She did"

"Did she skipped training or whatever you do to prepare for a battle?"

"Yeah, we haven't done that for a few days" Bow affirmed.

"Well there are your symptoms!" Catra hissed "Seriously you didn't see it at all?! Is she making the bigger effort here?! Getting to know all your weird magic stuff and you couldn't notice she was ill?!" She demanded "we never show weakness, if one of us is sick, we sneak a little warm stew into the room, if you feel tired you just pretend you will stay in your room study so you can sleep it off, if you can't spar both ask to stay in guard so one can sleep more while the other makes sure no one notices" Catra yelled "she's human, she isn't like you, she can't wave a wand or whatever and go back into battle" she looked at them dead in the eye "and I'm sure you still asked her to go full She-Ra mode for some stupid reason, didn't you? Making her work over her limits" she shook her head "you brought this upon yourselves" Catra said flatly "you didn't need the Hoard to take She-Ra out, you did all our work" she turned around.

The two magic teens seemed struck by her words, standing mutedly, like deer in front of the headlights.

"Well, good luck fixing this" Catra walked to the door "you are her friends now, you deal with this. Attacking her now would be an easy way out for you, so you didn't have to bear with the guilt, I won't take that burden away from you, face your doing"

"What are we suppose t-?" Bow began, but Adora's voice was carried across the room as she tossed again, laying over her shoulder cuddling into herself.

"She's doing that again" Glimmer sighed while taking Adora's shoulders trying to lay her on her back again, putting a wet towel on her forehead, but soon enough Adora tried to cuddle into her side again, keeping her legs curled like a half moon.

It could have been many things. It could be force of habits, muscular memory, but if Catra had to guess, she was looking for…comfort.

Adora kept on silently weeping hunching forward, keeping her legs still as if she could disturb the scenery if she dared move them.

Catra knew why and suddenly it pained her…a lot. She pressed her fists and walked back into the bed, sitting at the end of it. She looked at Adora's face, so flushed and sweaty, her always perfect ponytail was messily laying over her restless features.

Catra breathed in clenching her jaw "I owed you one last shift, I was the last to be sick" she mumbled trying to convince herself this was just to be even and not because she was longing for what it used to be.

So, without looking back at the princess or her friend, Catra got her feet up and curled up fitting perfectly in the crib her former roommate's legs made. As soon as she nested in there Adora started to ease up, her mumbling ceasing as she finally stopped moving so much.

Soon her breathing was even again and now she was in peaceful slumber.

"But how-?" Bow began to ask, but Catra shot him a glare.

"Just leave" she warned.

"I won't leave you unsupervised with her!" Glimmer cried.

"You rather have me leave now so she can go back into whimpering?"

Glimmer frowned "F-fine! You can stay, but we'll check every ten minutes"

"Dare to wake her up and I'll rip off your sparkly hair"

"We'll check every hour" Bow half proposed half ordered.

"Yeah, whatever" Catra dismissed them wrapping her tail around herself closing her eyes.

When she heard the door click she ventured opening them again. She spied over her shoulder at the shaky figure. Catra couldn't understand how she let herself be in this situation, but if she was being honest…she missed it. This used to be normality, not the getting sick part, but being together, sharing a room, sharing one bed even though they didn't need to, sharing life itself actually. She sighed and rested in the welcoming feeling. She hadn't been able to be this relaxed since Adora hadn't been back, it took time to get used to being alone, to actually stretch in a bed, to not wake up next to warmness, or the lack of someone poking her cheek for her to wake up. Or reaching at the other side if she ever needed to be reassured someone had her back, or sometimes being hugged in the middle of the night due to nightmares or for absolutely no reason at all. Now all that belonged to the past, except that for these moments, it was just like when normality meant she would always have someone by her side. And Catra longed for it more than she had realized. So she took one deep breath and allowed herself to be. Suddenly the embarrassing noise she used to do when she felt so cozy began to echo in the room as she purred. The sound and light vibration seemed to be the one thing Adora was missing to completely stop complaining in her sleep.

Catra couldn't help but to smile at that and finally closed her eyes, welcoming darkness for the first time in months without feeling fear.

* * *

The sun hit her face, Catra couldn't remember the last time she had woken up with light warmness kissing her skin. After all, their room was underground, no windows for the sun to creep in. It was always dark and cold, this didn't felt like that, and although it was foreign, it was not unwelcomed.

She stretched a little getting her claws out lightly scratching on the fabric. Then the movement behind her reminded her she wasn't alone. She allowed herself to press her back against Adora's legs while opening her eyes, taking in the image. Soon it all came back to her. They weren't at the Hoard and that wasn't their room, she was cuddled inside the castle laying right beside her enemy.

"She slept throughout the night" a voice interrupted her thoughts getting Catra to almost jumped out of the bed. It was the archer.

Catra groaned "Well, that's what happens when you are sick, you sleep it off"

Bow shook his head "No, it doesn't, she had been restless, even before she got this bad, the last few nights she had been up a lot. She sneaked into Glimmer's room a couple of times, then gave up on sleeping at all"

Catra looked away, instead of admitting that Adora had felt exactly the same way she had, the cat-like girl bite back "Then you actively ignored her symptoms"

Bow decided not to push it "Glimmer is bringing some food" he announced "you can eat something before you head back"

"Back?" Catra asked.

"To the Hoard" he clarified "we'll make sure no one follows you, a guard will take you out of the woods, you can make it from there, right?"

"Yeah, you will just make me walk for half a day" she rolled her eyes, suddenly annoyed by it all.

"I know you don't want to hear this but…thank you"

"I didn't do this for you"

"I know" he shrugged "you did it for her"

"Well, it's none of your business, but we used to take shifts when either one got sick, I owed her one last shift, I keep my promises" she concluded.

"It's good to know you are a woman of your word"

"Then believe me when I saw I will tear you apart if you tell anyone this, or if you keep talking this nonsense any longer"

Bow suppressed a knowing smirk just in time for Glimmer to walk in.

The sight of Catra still at the bed didn't made her day, but seeing Adora soundly asleep made her happier than anything in the world.

"Is the fever down?" she asked Bow, but Catra was the one to push her palm against Adora's forehead, humming quietly.

"Barely, the fever is going to break soon, that's the worst part"

"The worst part?" Glimmer repeated "has nothing that we been through has been torture enough?"

Catra huffed nonchalant "Sure, but the fever is still high, once she reached her peek she'll be sweaty and all, running chills and that sort of things, then it will finally go down, that's when she can start to heal"

Glimmer pressed her fists while her rosy cheeks puffed in a pout.

"You know we can't do this alone" Bow mumbled to his friend.

That only upset the princess further "we don't need her!" she turned around to half shout half whisper.

"Well, right before she came along we were fearing for the worse" Bow replied softly.

"Look, once my mom comes back, she can use her magic and get her back to her feet"

"We don't know when she will be back! Or if she will be able to help, I mean sure, magic creatures she can nurture back to health, but Adora isn't one and I don't think she can transform into She-Ra right now to heal herself"

"You do know I can still hear you, right? Cat ears" she pointed the obvious.

Glimmer turned to face her "You can leave already, we can handle this"

"Glimmer please, I know you're worried for Adora and if you care for her you know her best chance is to be with Catra. She knows how to handle this, we don't. We didn't grow up with her"

"You are right" Catra cut him off "And still, she decided to turn her back on the Hoard, her people, to be with you. A bunch of kids in shinny dresses that can't even handle a fever" she walked towards Glimmer "while you played dressed up we learned how to stitch our own wounds, because unlike you, we don't have the luxury of failing and trying again tomorrow. There's no tomorrow for us if we mess up" she passed next to her shoving her aside "it's your turn to deal with it"

"That's not fair!" Glimmer yelled "My father died in this war! I know pain and loss"

"Yeah? We both grew up as orphans" she looked over her shoulder with her yellow eye "you grew up with a family, we grew…"

"With just each other" Bow mumbled.

Catra shot him a nasty look "I warned you archer"

He raised his hands "Ok, listen, you owed her a shift, right? Well as I see it, it's not over. One more day, that's all, we can pay you, we'll give you a horse so you can cross the dessert on your way back and whatever you need" he offered "Just stay until the fever breaks" he pleaded.

Catra fought her inside until finally giving in "A horse" she said "and food for the way back. Plus, you stay out of the way. You want my help? It's my way or no way"

Glimmer had to put her pride aside and nod shortly "ok, but you have to promise you won't hurt her or steal her sword or-"

"Yeah, yeah, cease fire" Catra waved her hand going back to the bed. She then notice both were still standing there "Well get out then! Find her some clothes that aren't too heavy and find some herbs and brew some tea"

Both stood uselessly still for a couple of more seconds before following orders. As they left, Catra smirked. Maybe she just asked for those things to make them go away and get a little time alone. She then sat back in the bed looking at Adora, she couldn't help but to smile allowing her tail to wrap around the sick girl's wrist. She had stolen away another day of normality.

* * *

Feeling the heaviness all over her body made her think twice before opening her eyes, sweaty eyelids trying to unveil the world around her. Her breathing was shallow and everything ached in a way that hadn't in a long time.

Adora groaned trying to lift herself, pushing her body up only to find it impossible to do. Her arms gave away and she fell into the mattress.

"Can't you stay still for two minutes?" she heard a familiar voice.

"Cat-Catra?" she asked, her voice faint.

"Yeah, don't make a big deal about it"

Adora smiled foolishly, burring her face in the pillow "What a weird dream" she mumbled "unlike the others-" she cut herself off "you are here with me" Adora said longingly "it's…nice"

Catra felt a pain inside, like a needle piercing something from the past.

"Catra, can you stay?" she asked grabbing her arm weakly "just this once, I promise, I'll cover for you next time"

Catra knew the now barer of a magical sword was mixing up memories and dreams with reality, so she played along "But you owe me one"

Adora giggled softly "yes, I know, keep the count" she forced her body next to Catra, laying her head over the cat-girl's leg, resting there.

Catra froze for a moment, of course this wasn't anything new, Adora loved to cuddle, especially when sick but it had been so long now. The girl in front of her didn't know they were at war with each other, or that they were enemies now, no. She was simply looking for protection, like she used to. So she allowed her to have that moment and as she used to, Catra ran her slender fingers through blonde hair, getting buckles out of her face. Adora smiled leaning into the touch.

A faint "thank you" was the last thing spoken before silence reigned again.

* * *

Adora breathed in before deciding it was time to wake up. Her vision was blurry as it landed in the figure standing in front of her desk, inspecting a tray with food.

"Glimmer?" she asked "Bow?"

"They just left" the figure replied.

Adora tried to sit more successfully than hours prior, rubbing her eyes.

"What's going on?" she asked tiredly.

"You have a fever, you reckless fool"

And then, the figure walked towards, putting the tray in front of her.

"Catra?! Wha-what are you doing here?" she looked around the room to search for something that clued her in, there was no scratches in the furniture or signs of a battle or a violent break in.

"Your friends kidnapped me with a flaying horse so I could help you get better, we made a deal afterwards" the Hoard Captain explained the basics "they are morons, by the way. How they haven't gone extinct from a plague is beyond me"

"Catra I have so much I've wanted to tell you"

"Save it" she replied "keep your energies, you are not out of the woods yet and more literally neither am I, don't give me reasons to attack you before I'm free from this place"

Adora frowned but held her peace.

"Here" Catra pushed the stew in front of her "You haven't eaten in almost two days"

Adora grimaced at the sight of the food, her appetite was off.

"You know you won't get better unless you eat" Catra said knowing that look.

Adora groaned in discontent trying to sit herself, stretching her arms to grab the bowl, but they started to quiver.

"You are really sick, aren't you?" Catra asked a whispered looking at her.

Adora pressed her jaw trying to stop herself from trembling, but soon had to put the plate down, knowing she would drop it otherwise. She then looked away "You must be loving this, don't you? You can finally gloat about it. The so-called perfect girl is so faint she can't even feed herself. Enjoy it. I deserve this after all, savor this victory"

Catra chuckled out of the blue "Yeah, for a change it's nice. You only get this dramatic when your brain doesn't function properly" she grabbed the spoon submerging it in the soup before putting in front of her.

Adora blushed madly "Now you are just humiliating me"

"Maybe" Catra tilted her head with a sly smile.

"I won't give you the satisfaction" she crossed her arms in front of her body.

"The little sparkly princess won't be happy if you don't get better" she waved the spoon "so, say 'ah'"

Adora shrugged, her face a new shade of red as she parted her lips. Catra smiled triumphantly getting the spoon in. "Good girl"

Adora groaned "Let's just get this over with"

After being feed for a couple of minutes in complete silence, Adora unfolded her arms and drove her eyes to the side, before another spoon could make it inside, she spoke.

"Why are you here?"

"Told you, made a deal with the sparky"

"So? You could have left by now. Whatever they promised you can't be that valuable to you"

"What do you care what I get in return?"

"I don't know, I don't, it's just…it's you. It's us, we used to do this b-"

"Before you left" Catra interjected.

"I don't want to fight" Adora said tiredly "I just want to understand you, it used to be easy to read you"

"You made a lousy job reading me, remember? You couldn't tell when I lied"

"The worst part is…maybe I did" she mumbled "I knew to some degree you wanted more than to be a soldier, but to hear you say otherwise made it easier to ignore. I rather believe what you told me that face that I was…that I was hurting you"

Catra looked away "Don't put yourself on a pedestal, not everything I did was revolving around you"

"I-I know, I didn't mean it like that"

"Just drop it, ok? I'm still stuck here for a day, so don't make me want to punch you"

Adora sighed leaning away from her, pressing her back against the wall.

"Just finish eating" Catra gave her another spoonful before Adora could say a thing. After swallowing she raised a hand up.

"That's enough food"

"You didn't eat half of it"

"I can't eat anymore" she said with a disgusted look on her face.

"You won't get better"

"I'll get sick to my stomach" she countered rubbing a hand against her belly. Catra knew she meant it.

"Fine" she rolled her eyes putting the tray aside standing up just to notice Adora had a thin layer of sweat on her face and running down her neck. She reached for Adora's chin pulling her head up to inspect her "what's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, just a heat wave" Adora pushed her hand away turning over her shoulder to sleep.

"Good thing I can read your lies" Catra grabbed her arm forcing her so sit up "Let's try that again, what's wrong?"

Before anything else could be said, the door swung open and the dynamic duo walked inside, a sudden smile on their faces.

"You are awake!" Glimmer rushed towards hugging her with might.

"Don't crush her before she's gotten a chance to improve" Catra scolded.

"Sorry!" Glimmer said to Adora as she released form her bone-crushing hug "It's just so nice to see you again" she rested her head against her shoulder.

"You too, Glimmer" Adora smiled fondly, weakly wrapping her arms around her. Catra flinched looking away.

"So are you feeling any better?"

"I-I am improving" the blonde offered.

"She's lying" her counterpart interjected.

Adora shot Catra a glare, she didn't want to concern her friends.

"What's the matter?" Glimmer asked brokenly.

"Nothing, truly, it's the fever" she offered a reassuring smile "this time feels a bit different, that's all, way warmer than usual" she ran a hand through her forehead and into her hair.

"Maybe it's not normal" Catra said pondering at a thought "did you got all powered up while already having temperature?" she asked and Adora blushed embarrassed at confessing her carless behavior.

"Just once or twice, the temperature wasn't high, though. And while being She-Ra I didn't felt sick at all"

"No, you just let that oversized alter ego of yours consume all your energy while being ill"

Adora clenched the fabric of the bed "People needed help"

"You can't keep using that to make it all better!" Catra snapped "you are always playing the hero at your own expense!"

"I had to do something! I couldn't just stand by the side!"

"Yes you can! What good will you be if you exert yourself so much you wind up dead! How are you going to help anyone then?! Stop being so selfless! You are actually being selfish!" Catra screamed "Think of the people you would leave behind if you end up worse than just sick in a bed! You can't leave me like that!" and then Catra felt the warm drops dripping from her eyes. She stood back completely struck " **Them** " she corrected "you would be leaving _them_ " she cleared her eyes "you can't leave someone you've already forsaken"

"Catra…" Adora tried to reach for her arm, but she pulled away.

"Just get her in a tub with ice, break the fever down" she reached the door exiting the room.

* * *

"Watch your step" Bow said helping Adora into the freezing tub.

"Did you find her?" she asked while slowly submerging into the ice, her teeth starting to chat.

"Not yet. Maybe she left already" he mumbled.

"That would make sense" she pressed her eyes shut "this feels awful"

"You shouldn't do it? If Catra was getting even with this and it's just a trick-"

"No, no, she was telling the truth, this is kind of a last resort when sick"

"Okay" he smiled politely "I'll let you to it then"

"Thanks, Bow" she leaned her head back closing her eyes breathing in unevenly.

The peace and quiet didn't last long as footsteps approached.

"I'm fine, Glimmer. You don't have to worry about me"

"I'm ok with that" the voice replied making Adora open her eyes in a jolt to notice Catra was kneeling next to the tub, absently playing with one of the ice-cubes Frosta had provided.

"Catra!" she turned looking for her eyes "I thought you would have left" the hero muttered.

"They promised me a horse, I'm not walking home" Catra replied coolly.

"Home… right" Adora felt her heart sink into her chest, the weight of Catra's words cutting deep. "Catra…I…I mean it, I didn't want to abandon you, being apart has been the hardest thing I've done" she confessed hugging herself under all that ice.

"Could have fooled me" Catra responded.

"Do you think it was easy for me to leave behind everything I know?!" she cried meeting her eyes "to not have you by my side?" couldn't Catra see the honestly in her eyes? The hurt in her words? Couldn't she face the truth? That she was just as devastated as her feline-like friend.

"You don't have me, but look around! You have so many others!" Catra countered, just as broken "when you left you took away the only friend, the only family, the only piece of home that was…that was mine" Catra's voice quivered a little "I even was second best at this. We grew up together and overnight I was no longer your best friend, you stuck by them…"

"I couldn't go back to Hoard, they hurt so many innocent…"

"They hurt me and we still stayed, why was this time any different? Why stand for them…? Why wasn't I worth enough for you?" Catra's ears fell back as she pressed her eyes shut.

"I'm sorry" Adora whispered, daring to take Catra's hand into her own "I'm sorry for the pain, the loneliness, all of it. I'm sorry we are rivals, but I'm not your enemy. I will never be. We might fight, but that's nothing new, that's all we used to do back then"

"But I always knew at the end of the day we would make up. That we would have each other's' backs."

"That doesn't have to change"

"It already has"

"I hate it" Adora admitted, for the first allowing her eyes to be overflown by tears. Something Catra hadn't seen in a long while

"You don't have to like it, princess, you chose yours, I decided to stick with mine" Catra replied softly, sweetly, compassionated even.

That only seemed to break Adora even more, leaving her vulnerable. Getting overwhelmed by all the emotions, all the pain that had been put aside for the sake of every mission, but now, with nothing more than the truth in front of her, she didn't felt strong enough to deal with the aftermath of her decision; loosing Catra.

She was pushed away from her miserable thought for a moment when she felt a warmth gently brushing her cheek. Catra's thumb whipped away her tears as bicolor eyes inspected her with wonder and a bit of sorrow.

Adora leaned into the touch resting her face there "can't we just pretend for a day none of that exists? No Hoard, no magic, no war. Just…just you and me"

Catra shook her head gently as she stroked lovingly "One day"

* * *

The night was upon them, a black coat of sky with very little stars was the only thing in the peaceful outside. Inside the castle's walls however, things were not quiet or silent. The fever was finally breaking with nasty side effects that tortured Adora all the more.

The chills were the worst part, she felt a coldness running through her body while in reality all her skin was in fire.

Being at the end of the bed was no longer a solution the feline-like girl could offer, Adora was so restless and in so much pain that even Catra doubted she could help at all.

Glimmer bit into her nails, nervously pacing at the entrance.

"She's so much worse"

"This is actually good news, she just had to make it through the night" Catra said trying for a change to comfort the princess, while at the same time convincing herself it would all be ok.

"Just…give me the night" Catra asked, almost pleaded "We've been in this same scenario before; I know how to handle it"

Glimmer didn't pout, didn't complain, didn't flinch…she just agreed solemnly "please help her"

Catra nodded looking over Glimmer's shoulder at the archer "I'll call for you if there's any situation"

"We'll be near"

Catra hummed a response before turning around and closing the door, being left alone with a very ill Adora laying helplessly in the bed.

"Cat-Catra" she called weakly.

"I'm here, I'm staying" she sat by her feet resting her hand oven her leg rubbing up and down encouragingly.

Adora tried to smile while another wave of shivers went down her spine.

Catra cooed "It's ok, it'll be over soon"

Adora smirked "That's what you always used to say"

"And you've survived this far, so I must be doing something right"

Adora chuckled, her teeth chatting "I guess"

Catra reached her face, noticing that the temperature was still high "Ok, I know you hate this part, but the covers have to go"

Adora actually whined "Please, no" she held into the fabric.

"You have to cool down" she tried to reason with her.

"I'm freezing"

"It only feels that way" she stroked her hair getting the sweat out of her forehead.

Adora grumbled while pushing the covers away and hugging her knees to her chest, her trembling only getting worse.

Catra kept on calmly running her hand on her curved back.

"Catra" Adora called.

"I'm here" she repeated "you want me to stay at the edge of the bed?" she offered the solution that had worked the previous day, but to her surprise, Adora shook no.

"No, not at the end of the bed" she opened her eyes looking for hers' "Can you…can you hold me?"

Catra was shortly taken aback, remembering in the past all the times Catra had given into that petition. It was so familiar and now such a foreign request.

"Please" Adora added knowing how Catra was feeling about it.

The Hoard Captain pursed a smile on her lips settling besides her "Just this once"

Adora didn't hesitate and immediately cuddled into her arms, hiding under her chin and holding her tight against herself, resting her ear over her chest, hearing the steady heartbeat of the person she had known all her life "Thanks" she whispered softly.

Catra hummed a response and carefully started to brush blonde hair with her long fingers.

The shaky figure fought against the illness while gentle caresses comforted her through the night as hours and hours went by.

Catra could feel Adora's burning cheek resting on her collarbone while sudden mumbles escaped her lips in protest at the chills.

"You are going to get better" Catra reassured.

"I-I know. You are taking care of me, I always get better after that" she answered, a part of her lost in the past, perhaps ignoring once more that they were at war outside those walls.

Catra's ears fell back as her face softened, these past few months she wanted nothing more than to inflict pain in the girl and now she would have traded places just to spare her the suffering.

Adora shuffled, resting her upper body on top of her caretaker, cuddling into her chest, breathing with a lot more easy as she was not completely laying on the bed now.

Catra allowed this and held her there tracing small circles on her back. Then the vibration of her breathing began and the purring took place once more.

Adora ceased her complaining and hummed in content instead.

Catra snickered "Yeah, I know you like that" she commented a bit embarrassed.

"Mmm, yes, I like you" Adora answered, her eyelids still down. If Adora notice how the captain's heart jumped harder on her chest or not, no one could tell. But for the rest of the night, Catra kept those words in mind.

After eternal hours, the torture ended and Adora finally fell asleep, her steady breathing hitting Catra's neck. Her still warm body carelessly laying across the one of her friend and enemy, loose hair tickling cat-like nose and callous hands keeping a tight grip at her guest's waist.

Catra knew all this because she was still awake, still feeling all this, still thinking about it, still longing for more days that resembled normality and welcomed her back in the life of the blonde warrior. But she knew that when the morning came and the rays hit her face again, along with the warmth, there would come a goodbye. And that pained her.

So as a last act of peace in this mutual truce, she held her even tighter and reached down to press a soft kiss on Adora's head. After that, all she could do was close her eyes and give into sleep.

* * *

Adora breathed in, catching a soft scent that triggered some past memories. She opened her eyes finding herself in front of a face she knew all too well. One she had only seen mad or annoyed these last weeks but that now was relaxed, calmed, and peaceful. Had she really made her be this cross and angry at the world? Had it been all on her? The blame was her own on this one.

She reached for her face, tracing Catra's soft features with her fingertips, careful not to wake her.

"Thank you for staying by my side" she whispered "even when I couldn't do the same" she added ashamed. Deciding she wasn't ready to give up this comfort, she layed her head over her chest once more and drifted into slumber.

...

Catra allowed her eyelids to go up as the sun crept into the room. The yellow rays crashed against golden hair that sparkled brightly, making her smile at the beautiful sight.

Unwillingly she exhaled deeply at this, waking up the other teen. Adora opened her eyes once more, immediately locking gazes with her. No one said a word or made a sound, or even blinked. They just saw deep into the other's eyes. All the disagreements, all the pain and sorrow was mutedly discussed in those brief exchanges. It was Catra who broke this chaotic peace first by moving aside one of Adora's loosen buckles behind her ear. Adora replied at the action by softly stroking one of her cat ears.

Both giggled at the odd exchange and smiled fondly at each other.

"Your fever is down" Catra said after noticing her body heat was not alarmingly high anymore.

"I feel a lot better now" she nodded "thank you"

Catra looked away, her cheeks a bit blushed.

"I told you it would be over soon"

Those were her words from the night before, but now had gained a new meaning. It all was going to be over soon. This ceased fire, this friendly encounter, this mutual understanding, this…normality…was all going to disappear and neither was ready for it.

Adora lowered her head hiding her chin on her chest fighting against what were sure to become tears.

Catra shared the feeling, but kept her face as neutral as possible.

"Hey, come on" the Hoard Captain tried to cheer her up "the worst part is over" she said, playing with the double conversation both understood was happening.

Adora passed the heel of her palm against her eyes and nodded "That's- that's true" she cleared her throat "Now it only takes time to heal, right?"

Catra didn't expect that answer, but appreciated it nonetheless "Yeah, just give it time" she smiled soothingly.

* * *

Adora watched Catra wave a hand over her shoulder as she left the castle. A guard was escorting her and taking care of the horse.

Glimmer patted Adora's back softly "It's great to have you back on your feet" she leaned her head into the She-Ra personification.

"I feel so much better" Adora smiled wrapping an arm around her while watching Catra leave. The painful feeling of seeing her walk away once more stabbed her in the chest, so she looked away "So, what did you gave her?" she cleared her throat.

"What?" Glimmer asked aback.

"In exchange for staying" Adora explained "she told me she made you guys a deal to stay, what did she asked for? What was so worth it?"

"She agreed upon a horse and food"

"Nothing else?"

"No, she was keeping her promise; she told us you used to have shifts when sick, that she owed you one" Glimmer answered.

"What? But…but she's only been sick once, she was always the one covering for me…" Adora looked for Catra at the horizon, but she was no longer there "Glimmer, please take me to her" she grabbed her shoulders, the small princess saw the urgency in her eyes and knew it was important, so she blinked them there.

...

Catra was at the verge of the forest, ready to go back into the Hoard. She was ok with that, with being at the service of the Hoard, with fighting the princesses, that was her call after all. Her only regret was who she was leaving behind.

"This is as far as I go" the guard announced.

"Yeah, sure" Catra nodded taking the reign of the horse "Off I go" she told herself when suddenly a sparkly puff appeared in front of her.

"Catra!" Adora launched forward.

Her cat reflexes made her anticipate a situation of danger "What's wron-?" she has knocked by a powerful embrace that left her breathless as Adora cuddled in her chest.

"I love you" the hero finally said, unwilling to let go of the embrace, despite feeling Catra's body go stiff "I couldn't let you go again without making sure you knew" Adora kept a tight grip hiding her face into Catra's shoulder "Even if you go back to the Hoard, even if we are at war at each other for the rest of our lives or if we never see eye to eye, I will **always** love you"

Catra gasped surprised at her words, but her shock was swiftly changed into a soft smile. Her body went limb, offering no resistance at the touch as she held the blonde close while fighting tears of her own. Lastly, she cuddled against Adora to mumbled into her ear a tender "I'll always love you too".

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed this one shot!**


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